Archives

The Strange World View of Andrew Wilkinson

It happened on Friday … during a CKNW interview with BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson on proposed ICBC rate increases.

Not surprising, given his previous statements, Wilkinson made clear he wants to get rid of the current monopolistic public auto basic insurance setup.

I disagree with that stand because I remember the extortive rates … with little or no real competition … that private insurers charged when they ruled the roads. And heaven help you trying to get fair compensation if you ever had a claim or had to buy vehicle insurance for years afterwards!

I wrote about that earlier this year: http://harveyoberfeld.ca/blog/icbc-je-me-souviens/

But I understand where Wilkinson is coming from … politically and ideologically.

However, what I couldn’t understand Friday was WHERE Wilkinson said BC should look for alternative better systems to insure drivers and motorists.

The Liberal Leader … who eventually wants to the Premier for ALL British Columbians … said the BC government should look at alternative auto insurance schemes throughout North America and elsewhere in the “English speaking world”.

Huh?

Are private auto insurance programs in Sweden, Holland, Germany, Denmark, France, Portugal, Spain etc. etc. unworthy of examination because English is not their primary tongue?

Weird!

What about how cars/drivers are insured in many of the larger well-motorized nations in Asia, Africa, the mid-East?

Apparently NONE of them can teach us anything about insuring vehicles and the public… if they aren’t “English-speaking nations”, according to Wilkinson.

In fact, he event went on in the interview to suggest where we should look: Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

It was a very curious, unexpected almost bizarre addition to the debate over public versus private basic vehicle insurance coverage.

And frankly, it sure sounds to me like a biased, prejudiced view of the world … and where perhaps half of the BC electorate originated.

“English-speaking” does not necessarily guarantee wise, stable, mature, well-founded solutions to pressing problems: has Wilkinson looked at the state of Great Britain lately; or Donald Trump’s America ?

In fact, maybe those “English-speaking” countries should be deliberately EXCLUDED if we want to see how ANY insurance or public service programs could be run better!

The Liberal Leader should be pressed on his peculiar references … and perhaps restrictive views … if BC’s political reporters can pull themselves away from their pre-Christmas egg nogs to ask a few tough questions.

Harv Oberfeld

(Reminder: You can receive free alerts to all new postings on this blog by following @harveyoberfeld on Twitter.)

I think it is pretty clear that Wilkinson does not live in the real world. Heaven help us if the Liberals under Wilkinson should ever be elected. He wants to unload ICBC ? Should never happen. The best cure for ICBC would be to allow competition with private companies for our insurance, but not one or the other. Like you Harvey, I remember when private insurance ruled the roost, and it was not pretty. I remember my father getting a letter from his insurance company lauding him for his very many years of accident free driving. Apparently that driving record meant that he was statistically ” due ” for an accident, so as a reward for his great driving record, they were going to double his premiums. Yep, just what we need, more of that.

(Response: The trouble with “competition” in insurance, since we require EVERYONE driving to have coverage, is the private companies would cream off all the best drivers and leave those with claims to the government/taxpayers to prop up … and thus lose even more money. Basic should remain compulsory and public: lots of room for private to compete with extra coverage plans. Maybe Wilkinson would want them to offer special English-speaking rates? h.o.)

It is just white privilege plain and simple. You could ask him to read the transcript a hundred times and he wouldn’t ever figure it out.

The BC LIEberals are full of people that think like that. They just play to their base.

The news media in BC has become a sad-sack joke. The lack of follow up on the giant BC LIEberal Party backed Asian money laundering real estate scam is very disturbing to me. We all got played, not by the offshore cheaters, but by the BC Liberals. Where is the digging, the interviews, the outrage? It is nowhere because everyone got ‘their piece” of the pie. Dirty money was spread everywhere. Too many well connected (to the BC Liberals) senior RCMP folks here so nothing will come of it. We need the Feds to do an investigation.

Harvey, can you imagine how that story would have been covered by the BCTV newsroom in your day?

(Response: I certainly would have been on to it as soon as he said it. And the next day, after running his remarks/explanation we would have gone to several non “English speaking” ethnic/community groups for comment. Would have been fun. It was a very curious, strange remark … and hopefully now that I’ve pointed it out, someone will ask him to explain! h.o.)

Wilkinson just isn’t the brightest tool in the shed and hasn’t expanded his views beyond his narrow view of what was Kerrisdale and Point Grey back in the 1980s. We are no longer an “English elite” society. Some one ought to notify him people of colour are now permitted to live in British Properties as are Jews. They are free to join golf & country clubs, etc. Some one might let him know Jews are now permitted to join the Vancouver Club. That aside, he just doesn’t get it and never will. Its why he won’t make premier. Just that one phrase can and will most likely be used against him next election.

You wonder why Wilkinson doesn’t have a look back at the last 16 years when the B.C. Lieberals ran this province and ran ICBC into the financial ground. It was the B.C. Lieberals who plundered ICBC to the tune of a half a billion a year. If that hadn’t happened it would be in much better shape.

Having seen what car insurance looked like prior to ICBC, never want to go back to those days. Held hostage by private American insurance companies who were just interested in how much they could gouge out of drivers. It left a lot of people driving without insurance. That didn’t work out so well when you had an accident with one of them.

Eby has made some changes which will result in how people drive and actually we ought to increase penalties for speeding. In Norway, your speeding ticket is based on your income. You’re a billionaire that speeding ticket could be $10K, as it was for one.

People can not expect to have rates remain the same when their vehicles become more and more expensive to repair. At one time they replaced bumpers. Now they have to replace whole pieces of the front end. A plan side mirror is $75 and installation, but those new ones with sensors, can run hundreds of dollars. People need to understand, just because its government owned and run doesn’t mean it can be free. Its a business. We do need implement a law though which restricts any government from plundering the ICBC coffers. The government maybe the “shareholder”, but we the taxpaying citizens are the government. Some governments and individuals never learn that.

So back to Andrew Wilkinson. He is out of touch. He usually appears uncomfortable in his own skin. why the B.C. Lieberals “annointed” him to be leader is beyond me, well perhaps so he was easily controlled and would take on silly projects like trying to recall Mr. Eby from whom all evil flows or so Mr. Wilkinson appears to think. Where was Mr. Wilkinson when his party was pulling half a billion out of ICBC each year. Perhaps some one in the MSM could develop a little back bone and ask the question.

Fool me once……
Gordon Campbell trolled me with the promise to scrap ICBC. Luckily even though he never followed up on that campaign promise the BC LIBERALS became my brand new go to provincial party. Because as traitorous as most remember Gordo the absolute sell out NDP are/were/continue/ will always/ be many time worse. They abandoned the private sector unions and embraced the job killing idiotic enviro crowd. But lets look at ICBC
3 million a day. Nobody got fired. Bonuses were paid and thousands of public sector unionized ICBC employees keep their jobs.
Beware the evil private bunchof crooks they will skim the good and leave ICBC to insure the bad.
Hmmm? We now subsidize most of Richmond drivers while they crash/bend /dent/ scrape their Range Rovers/ Land Rovers/ Porche Cayanes/ BMWs and other high end autos. Mind you ICBC has taken a teeny tiny baby step towards dealing with this issue without seeming RACIST. They are going to charge new drivers more and make everyone drive for many many many years accident free to achieve the magical 43% discount.
The entire country must be accident free because its easy to find multiple jurisdictions across Canada / USA that charge bad drivers and good drivers less than we pay ICBC .
EASY to pass no refusal legislation and lets allow the private companies to compete. Imagine competition!!!!! I wonder if somehow the daily loss of 3 million dollars might start to shrink.
Oh yeah its all the fault of the BC Liberals isnt it?
Well your guru EBY said it loud and clear. The NDP could put every nickle that the BC LIBS took to fund other government waste and the loss at ICBC would remain at 3 million a day. White privilege? Last time I looked ICBC sells auto insurance to just about every race creed and color.

hi 13, its e.a.f. what caused me to write that? well Wilkinson is some where back in the 1950, 60s, 1970s and 80s when the “white English” class more or less ruled the province. Oh, don’t believe it, well ya, you couldn’t live in the properties if you’re where not a WASP. it was in the covenant which STIPULATED who could own and who could live there. You were permitted to live there if you were a person of colour if you were classified as a servant. Think I’m kidding? Go back to the Vancouver Sun’s old issues, and read their columnist Jack Wasserman. It was all there.

Wilkinson just reminds me of those people. The mind set………

As to the NDP is so much worse, good luck with that. As the old saying goes, in tough times you can get half the working class to kill the other half. What happened in B.C., because Unions were strong, the working class became the middle class. its called high wages.

No one ought to blame the Unionised workers at ICBC for the deficit, they only bargained for the best they could get. They do have to live in this economy which the B. C. Lieberals served up, with money laundering galore and the housing market became unattainable for those working at regular jobs. The blame for ICBC starts in Cabinet and went into the D. of D. and then very senior management. They made the decision. The workers were hired to carry it out. if people were unhappy, they never let the B.C. Lieberals know until the least election.

Personally I’m happy with the new hospitals and schools the NDP announced. So much better than not having them. Just think how much better B.C. would have been off if the B.C. LIeberals hadn’t gouged ICBC and used that method of financial management across the board.

Opposition Leaders say the darnedest things. Rather than sit back and watch Liberal PM Trudeau take incoming flak from assorted directions, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer–completely out of the blue–pipes up about how he supports Brexit.

As for Andrew Wilkinson…by tossing out ‘English speaking nations’ perhaps he hopes to flip Oak Bay away from the Greens in the next election by pandering to ‘God and country’ ex-Brits residing there. Either that or a brain cramp.

(Response: Amazes me that wanna be Premier can say that … and no one (public or media) even questions him about it! h.o.)

Harvey, it’s amazing at the speculation as to the hidden meaning in the off the cuff comment about English speaking countries. Some on the site go so far as to suggest anti-Semitism and racism dog whistle as Wilkinson’s motives. Not much supporting evidence for the outrageous accusation, but thats never stopped some.

Since we’re all in speculation mode, how about this one.

All English speaking countries have a Common Law system of jurisprudence. The decision by the NDP to use the power of statute to limit the power of the judiciary to award damages for injuries is a complete departure from common law principles.

The move by the NDP crosses the line of governmental septation of powers by interference by the legislature into the judiciary for the sole benefit of the Government.

It’s a power grab more akin to Civil Law countries, which are coincidentally also non-english speaking countries.

I’d speculate that when Wilkinson says seek solutions from English speaking countries he’s saying seek a return to Common Law Principles.

Of course Ebby and the NDP want a more Civil Law approach. The Civil Law lends to centralized big government, and an erosion of Natural Law Principles. The NDP and socialists despise individual liberty. Liberty is the antithesis of socialist group think.

(Response: Seems VERY elitist to me to suggest that only countries following the “Common Law system of jurisprudence” are worthy of examining when it comes to vehicle insurance. Having travelled a fair deal, I can tell you the systems of law, justice and vehicle/driver licensing practiced … and perhaps perfected … by the Danes, Dutch, Germans etc. should not be dismissed just because their first language isn’t English. And besides, they all drive on the same side of the road as we do …so therefore maybe we even have more in “common” with them than with the Brits … and certainly the Excited States down south. h.o)

Harvey, it doesn’t surprise me at all that “no one even questions him about it” because, they are still hoping the good old days come back, when B.C. Lieberal politicians could be counted on to go golfing, going out for drinks, dinner, etc. They live in hope things will once again return to their version of the “good old days”. All that socializing, etc.

First of all I must agree with Harvey that I believe in the ICBC Model, I believe that DB was visionary in his (or was it MacDonald) idea to create the Corporation.

Harvey is correct Private Insurers were/are never the friend of the great Unwashed.

What Barrett did not count on though was the fact that the Corp would become a Bloated Albatross with far too many employees that are paid too much, beneffitted too much, Pensioned too much, and then to top it off both the NDP and Liberals took Dividends from the Corp.

Can it be fixed? I am not sure as there are many many problems that must addressed and I do not think ANY B.C. Government will address the most serious problem that plagues ICBC.

B.C. has experienced 15 K – 20 K more Claims year over year over the past 5 years.

Government types, Media, and the rest attempt to blame this huge increase in claims on Distracted Driving, and a host of others when in fact WE have an Elephant in the Room and all mentioned are afraid to talk about it.

Without talking about that Major Issue and without correcting it ICBC will continue to Bleed Blood Red.

The Biggest Contributor to problems are ICBC is Immigration. Ask anyone that works at ICBC, Police, Body Shop Owners or any Politician familiar with ICBC, they will confirm that if they are honest.

People that come to Canada/B.C. from Sweden, Ireland,
Brazil, should be required to surrender their Home Country Dr. Lic. within Two Weeks and they should re required to pass a Stringent Te4st that includes Written in English, Driving, and a Full understand of Merging, 4 Way Stops, and all the rest that is important.

In some Countries Drivers Lic are accessable through a local 7-11 and that must stop.

My Statement above will of course get many comments charging me with Racism, Xenophobia, etc. but I welcome Legal Immigration from any Country and have over 20 Employees that were not too long ago Immigrants to this country.

We either want to Fix ICBC or we do not, for Eby or a new B.C. Liberal Government to continue to “Kick the Can Down the Road” is irresponsible, reprehensible, and in fact dishonest.

I believe in the ICBC Model but they have a very long journey back to repe tability and frankly I am not sure if that is possible. I hope Harvey is correct, I believe it is worth a try but we need a fully transparent report from a Commission that includes the Independent Auditor General, with a rep from one NDP and one B.C. Liberal MLA.

We also need full reporting to ALL Media, ICBC need to be fixed or done away with within the next 18 months. A Full Transparent Report is required by the end of Calendar year 2019.

Wilkinson

I have lived in Vancouver Quilchena for most of my adult life. Wilkinson has been a good MLA but I thought he might not be a good choice because he looked like an angry old white guy. He was not a Woman, a Visible Minority, or any other pre requisite that is important today.

Wilkinson is NO Racist.

After having a small interaction with him and then seeing him in Question Period and his Dismantling of Premier Horgan on the PR Question I feel he would be a Good Premier.

Not sure what he was getting at with his comments as wet out by Harvey but I tend to agree with the Diver, Wilkinson was attempting to compare Apples to Apples.

Keep in mind that Vancouver Quilchena is NO Longer a White Enclave of Pasty White British types. Vancouver Quilchena has a much larger population by so called Non Whites than any other riding/area in B.C. other than Richmond.

I am really getting very frustrated with the “Identity Politics” of Bean and eaf on this Blog.

Can’t either one of you do better than that?

“Identity Politics” are always a last resort for Pundits that cannot defend their positions, it is in view each and every night on CNN and MSNBC.

As to Wilkinson “Not being the Sharpest Knife in the Drawer”?

Wilkinson is a Physician, a QC, a top Litigator, a Partner in a National law Firm and much more including being a Life long Volunteer in various Organizzations.

I get more and better Intellecually Honest Exchanges from My Neighbours Dog Sam.

Apologies to David Burkowitz

(Response: Part of the problem , I believe has been the rip off of ICBC by its own customers, the body shops (who seem to have higher rates for insured repairs) and the employees themselves … too many under performing and/or overpaid. ICBC definitely needs improvement… but not dissolution. Ho)

I’m for keeping ICBC and immediately replacing the entire upper management group. ICBC did great (for the most part) under previous leadership groups and that tells me that the business model isn’t the problem.

As for the BC Lib leader, he comes across to me as just another dime-a-dozen mediocre (at best) politician and therefore unable to help BC return to world-class standing.

@BMCQ I respectfully disagree with the notion that ICBC can or is worth saving. To far gone and far to in the government union mindset. This leads me to Harveys response to your post. He blames false claims, and bodyshop rip offs, and under preforming employees. Any insurer that is losing 3 million per day in a monopolistic environment has absolutely NO REASON to watch someone with a bad back climb a ladder with a bundle of roofing shingles. The bodyshops have to get each and every repair cost authorized by ICBC. Is Harvey alleging collusion between crooked body shops and (apologies to eaf ) dishonest government employees. Possible the people that toil at ICBC have been caught taking bribes, running chop shops, writing off repairable cars so they can buy them cheap.
Keeping ICBC alive is like refusing to remove a wart because youve become accustom to it. Pull the plug

13 could be correct and I could be mistaken but I still believe in the ICBC Model, it could work if totally overhauled but it would take a complete Forensic Audit by an AG Report Commission with a totally Independent recently Retired Private Insurance Executive that knows enough of Private Insurance that he/she can incorporate efficiencies and a system that works for ICBC.

Yes the Union is hugely problematic, too many employees too much overhead, and simply too much bloat.

As Harvey correctly points out there are also Cheats and false claims and offenders need to be charged and convicted we need deterrent.

Employees also scam, Body Shops must be audited and there must be better control and better tracking of Claims, work completed and estimating. Any of those groups must be charged and convicted and lose their jobs, contracts, or privileges if they contravene ICBC Policies.

I am no fan of Anarchist David Eby but I was always taught to give credit and in the case of Eby and his Cap on certain Claims I am in total agreement, this is also part of the problem

When you hear Screams and Howls of complaint from people like Ambulance Chaser Paul Doreshenko you are doing the right thing, trust me I know someone in the business and they will never do the Tax Payer or ICBC, or ICBC Premium Payers any favours.

Again, 13 may be correct and I may be far off base on this one. I just believe that the Model worked at one time and it worked well.

The trouble at ICBC began with problems and creep of mismanagement, fraud, and the rest over the past two decades and it eventually ended up as it is today.

Perhaps it is too late and the plug should be pulled but I believe it is worth the wait of a few months for complete Forensic Audit, Harvey is correct about Private Insurers.

We do not need to go to other Countries either, there are good models here in Canada, let’s compare Private, Public, and a mix.

Bean

My Parents taught me to tell the truth and give my honest opinion about anything. I deal in Physics and Mathematics each and every day and there is no argument to be had there.

My opinion about Immigration and Drivers coming here from other locales is based on many different factors and I stand by my comments.

I challenge anyone to look at the Numbers/Statistics, talk to Body Shops, Tow Truck Drivers, Police, other First Responders, ICBC itself and learn the truth, it will set you free. Just who is having the Vast Majority of the Accidents?

If this is not addressed for what it is and soon, ICBC will very quickly be losing Double or more what it is today and then you will see some real ICBC Premium Increases, think of it $ 6 Million losses each and every day.

I find it rather interesting how so many were so quick to blame the dramatic increases in Real Estate values and investment, Money Laundering, Casino Problems on Government and Immigration but not the serious problems at ICBC.

How would one square that circle?

Oh and by the way Bean, not too many of the “Great Unwashed” were willing to listen to you and your Ilk regarding PR.

It did not seem to matter how much of Hard Working Tax Payer Money Weaver, Horgan, Meggs, Gunton, Eby and his Trick Questions and the rest of the NDP put into PR the General Public literally “Washed Away” the PR People with a Tsunami Tidal Wave of Screw You!

Yes 13, over 60% in that *** Kicking and I have heard no comment from Horgan, Eby, or Weaver and we will hear none from GTB.

I am proud to recognize that the “Great Unwashed” are not as stupid as the NDP/Weaver Light Show thought they were.

Only Andrew Wilkinson knows why he said what he said and the odds of any of the current crop of reporters asking him are about as good as me winning the next 6/49 jackpot.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba both have government auto insurance that seem to be running without the financial problems our province has/is incurring. I believe they even speak English. Could be a good place to start.

I have perused some of the financial reports for ICBC and wonder if our successive provincial governments are using a bit of sleight of hand. Before ICBC was formed the provincial government operated numerous venues that issued license plates, drivers licenses, driver testing etc. After ICBC became an entity they took over the issuance of license plates/decals. The provincial government still maintained venues that dealt with driver testing, issuance of drivers licenses and therefore bore the costs of operating these venues. As of 2015 or 2016 ICBC took over the job that was being done by the government operated venues. ICBC acts as an agent of the government and all monies collected for decals, drivers licenses, driver testing fees and fines are remitted to the provincial government. Whether the government compensates ICBC enough to cover the costs of acting as their agent is questionable.

Another questionable occurance is that ICBC does not require a person with a claim to visit one of their claim centres to have an adjuster assess the damages on a vehicle in many circumstances. Instead they rely on the report that a body shop creates for them. Lots of room for padding a body shop’s bottom line at the expense of the rate payers.

I also don’t think that it is a coincidence that many eastern high-profile law firms have established offices in the lower mainland area and bombarded the airwaves selling their wares.

(Response: I think ICBC should take a really hard look at the rates it pays body shops. Ripoff!! I keep hearing people pay less for the same work if paying themselves rather than going through ICBC. With all the business ICBC gives these shops, their rates should be LOWER …not higher. h.o.)

Some here may to choose to Spin my comments and attempt to paint me as Anti Immigration.

Both of my parents families were Legal Immigrants, my 29 year old adopted Son is in Canada from the South Pacific because the Canadian Government allowed the Birth Mother to Legally Immigrate to Canada.

About 60% of the Employees in my Unionized Company are Legal Immigrants and I am currently assisting a Refugee Organization place New Immigrants.

I simply and factually have attempted to point out that I agree with Harvey there are many many contributing factors that contribute to the what could be insurmountable problems with ICBC but I believe in the model and I would like to see a timely Audit by the B.C. Attorney General with a Commission of Government and Opposition overseeing a credible member of the Private Insurance Industry that could offer solutions before the catastrophe gets beyond Hope and it is unfixable.

Again, I may be incorrect, 13 could be correct and it may be advisable to dissolve the corporation, But let’s do our Due Diligence and have those facts presented to the Government.

Again, this whole exercise must be carried out in the most transparent way possible.

We can start by begging someone/anyone in Media to do a Spread Sheet Analysis Comparison of Auto Insurance right across Canada to let the Tax Payer and Driver of B.C. Know just what the factual comparison on Auto Inaurance is today.

We hear too many false statements from all sides on this.

The Commission and Tax Payer then needs to know all of the contributing costs including Body Shops, Claims, Fraud from Customers, Employees, and anything else. ICBC can start by being more aggressive and pursue Legal Solutions for all criminal activity within and out of ICBC, we need deterrent. Yes that investigation includes doing a cost study of every facet of ICBC from numbers of Employees, Bloat, Waste, and all Benefits, Pensions, and the rest of ALL Employees including Senior Management.

Again, a major part of the Disaster at ICBC is the fact that too many New Drivers to Canada are not capable and if that is not addressed ICBC will never function as it was intended to.

People that come hear to settle in Canada from any Foreign Country must immediately pass Written English Driving Exams and they must also pass a New Updated more Stringent Road Test before they are given the Right to Drive.

NO Indivual NO Matter what the circumstances when Immigrating to Canada should be allowed to drive in B.C. With a Foreign Drivers License for any period of time. Of course the loop hole of Non Residency must also be addressed.

Does that not all make sense?

Why would anyone choose to make this an issue of Race or Anti Immigration unless they were either Paranoid or simply playing “Identity Politics”.

Why can’t some of us get beyond that and put the Tax Payer and Driver of B.C. first? The Cost of Housing, Living, and the rest are already high enough, we do not need a Disastrous Scandal of an Out of Control ICBC see B.C. Drivers all paying $3,000.00 per annum in Insurance Premiums within a few years do we?

Everything and anything must be addressed at ICBC and it must be addressed now, why can we not ignore the Identity Politics for just once on this Blog you just might be helping your Family Members, Friends, Neighbours, and the more deserving that could and should get Government Assistance rather than see those needed Funds go to subsidizing a Failed ICBC.

Perhaps I am asking far too much.

(Response: I agree: ICBC certainly deserves a full review of who and how much it pays… from the agents who sell their polices to the body shops that fix damages… and, yes, the ripoff customers who try to get rich off their fellow taxpayers/drivers with inflated claims. I sat on a claims case jury in court … and we gave the claimant (who wore a neck brace, claimed life-long damage rom an 8 mph bumper tap) NOTHING . after medical test video showed her swaying and having stability difficulties on the machine when the test was “on” but standing and walking very well, steadily before the “test” began, but apparently didn’t realize the video was already recording. h.o.)

Its funny that were not allowed to point out the obvious. Real estate purchases made by Chinese students and homemakers should have had CRA alarm bells ringing. The fact that the real estate being purchased was worth multiple millions of dollars should have added sirens to the alarm bells. CRA did not want to be seen as being racist.
Now were discussing ICBC and its enormous horrendous, ridiculous loss of money. In order for ICBC to lose money it needs people to crash into one another. SHHH , quiet, lets not mention that just maybe, perhaps , Im afraid to say it, but here goes maybe the body shops in Richmond are just a bit busier. I suggested that NW send one of their intrepid reporters to various body shops all over the lower mainland and try to see if any patterns of ethnicity are obvious. Janet Brown seems to be thick skinned enough to pull it off.
Completely unrelated, and probably unreported if you are out and about and driving around Chilliwack today you will find yourself looking at YELLOW Jacketed protesters on every corner and on the freeway over passes. Signs telling the treasonous trudeau to stay away from the UNs failing unfettered immigration policies.

(Response: The ripoff of ICBC and the taxpayers knows no boundaries: ethnic, racial, religious or geographical. It goes on everywhere in the province … by individuals, businesses, etc. It has to be aggressively fought and defeated: fair compensation for injuries, fair repair bills, fair risk-determined premiums and fair wages to employees … not top-heavy payouts to ALL those groups …are all part of the solution and I support government doing whatever it must to reel them all in … so ICBC survives and the taxpaying motorists are not terrorized again by private vehicle insurers. h.o.)

you gotta love the “its the Union’s fault”. Surprise there people, it not the Union’s fault. There are two parties to a collective agreement. Its negotiated. The problem is management can’t do their job properly. Frequently they don’t have the training, don’t have the guts, don’t have the energy, etc. Being a good manager takes, time, talent, experience, education of one form or another. Most don’t have it. They don’t have to have it. Once they’re in position, they’re there for life. Don’t blame Union members. They didn’t turn ICBC into A BLOATED organization, Management,. the B of D. and politicians did that.

If the Union wanted money that’s because they need it. People find it very expensive to live in B.C.

Having watch a lot of managers in Unionized enviornments. Its actually funny. They don’t know how to do their jobs. Managements spends too much time in meetings and not enough time on the floor to see what is going on. Management is the one who empire builds, not the Union members. Always remember there are two signatures on each collective agreement and in the case of ICBC they were not only management, they were the government, so please don’t tell me they didn’t have control If management and the government didn’t have control, they ought all to be fired

Just look at some of the appointments over the years to the Board at ICBC and those in senior management. Sure wasn’t the union who appointed them for the past 16 years, now was it. It was that good old party who kept telling everyone, they were the business people, who know how to do business.

Good grief. Anyone that cant see that collective bargaining with a business that MUST turn a profit is a far cry from a government worker that negotiates with a tax payer. Sadly the tax payer has to rely on his elected official to bargain in good faith on the tax payers behalf. Guess what the elected official is concerned with? Getting good value for the taxpayer? BS The elected official is concerned with getting re elected.
If you believe that private sector unions walk into an employers office while the business is losing $3,000,000.00 everyday and demands a raise, demands a fully indexed and defined pension, demands child care demands stress leave ETC you are delusional

If the blog was about Wilkinson and his reference to “english speaking” referring to ICBC it would appear that racial tones are inherent to the topic. The inference that some have left because the writer doesnt agree with other posters is nothing more than an attempt to stifle any rational debate

Once again we wander into the money munching machine known as ICBC.
Another great idea rendered impotent by govt sloth, waste, greed and bungling.

Again I will state I believe the private sector can do better.
Dont believe me?
One only need to walk into a Govt liquor store and gaze upon the overstaffed, insolent , job for life, union protected, surly curmudgeons shuffling from stacking bottles on a shelf to swiping bottles across a scanner while being paid $30/hr ( if govt employee pensions and benefits are factored in).
THEN walk into a private liquor store.
2 -3 people max. Helpful, cheery and paid less than half the salary the previously mentioned “workers” ‘earn”.

Wilkenson?
What were the Libs thinking? A complete about face after the disaster of Christy? As if that would work in the short term.
He’s an anachronism that appeals only to an aging , shrinking , predominantly white, english speaking voter base.
The NDP will win a majority in the next election and they will have Wilkenson to thank for it

As for the ridiculous referen-dumb on Proportional Rep.
The sitting govt (NDP) did a dreadful job selling it. The media squatted on all fours and drank from the advertising bowl as per usual.
I avoid the local media as much as possible.
Vapid, inane, insipid, increasingly irrelevant. Sad but there it is.
The whole thing was deja vu for the ridiculous tax referendum of several years ago.
A waste of taxpayer’s time and money.

Proportional rep. as I understand it in one sentence…..

“So even if you win the majority of votes the guy that came in second or third wins…..?

Whaaaaaaat?

Only politicians could think crap like Pro Rep up . Even if a politician loses….they win…..and I fully expect these conniving weasels to bring us back to this again in a few years but they will just relabel it as something else.